Hotel Riu Karamboa - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Arrived for a relaxing week away with my sister - no plans to party, so the concerns raised in other posts about not having anything to do did not bother us. Got a taxi from the airport which cost us 10 euro and took less than ten minutes. Cigarettes were available at the airport for around €20-€25 a sleeve and in the hotel for €5.50 a pack of 20. You can pick up souvenirs from the hotel shop as well as small food and drink items but they seemed expensive such as large packs of crisps for €7. Hotel was well presented and clean in all areas, from reception to the room to the pool area - pool toilets are the cleanest I have ever come across, with staff working there throughout the day to ensure the high standards are maintained! Room was cleaned well each day, fresh pool towels swapped each day and staff could always be seen in and around the complex cleaning and tidying different parts. Never had to wait more than a couple of minutes for a drink regardless of which bar we used and the team were happy to make drinks that were not on the menu. Given how many cocktails I was able to drink there is a question mark as to how much alcohol is in the pre-mixed ones, but as there are optics in the room, there is always more available and can’t say this impacted the holiday at all. Food was good, did start to feel a little ‘samey’ towards the end of the week, but that was more us than what was available as there was more than enough choice in the restaurants - would say the main restaurant was more organised and offered more options at lunchtime than the smaller one. Took some pics of the huge variety of food available on one evening - as well as this there was also a carvery with two different meats, Yorkshire puddings and veg. In terms of speciality restaurants, it’s annoying that new bookings for the day only become available at midnight as some people don’t stay up that late each day - we managed to secure bookings at the Italian, which we didn’t rate and would not return to as well as the Asian, which was really good and if we had been able to, would have booked to eat here again. Didn’t manage to book the other restaurant. Outside the resort we walked right along the beach and went to a couple of beach bars before reaching the town where we visited a couple of shops and had a snack before getting a taxi back. The walk was a couple of miles but with the breeze and stops for cocktails was easy enough. We paid ten euro for a taxi back from town. There is free snorkelling, body boarding and other beach activities however the sea is VERY rough. Had red flags a couple of days were were there, and even on the days we were able to go in the sea you had to get out past the waves before you could enjoy it. There are lifeguards at the beach directly outside the resort. Snorkelling trips were not available whilst we were here due to how rough the sea was. Loads of activities in the hotel though including bingo, painting, yoga, aqua-fit, water f

After reading so many mixed reviews of the Riu Karamboa hotel, I was not sure of what to expect. To very be honest, I am not sure what people were going on about because the service and hospitality was exceptional, and I have never seen staff all work efficiently from the cleaning team to the restaurant staff. Yes the hotel can be overwhelming with the 2000 guests staying there but the property is vast and large and spacious so does not feel like you are living on top of each other. The lobby and foyer of the reception area is incredibly beautiful and quaint filled with African décor it is truly magnificent and you can sit there and watch the world go by with a drink in your hand. We were allocated room 3095 and the views were truly magnificent, towels were changed daily and the mini bar stocked every other day. We had the same cleaning lady for the duration of our stay called Clarice. She was a beautiful and kind lady and always had our room looking immaculate and spending time to chat with us. Thank you Clarice. There is so much choice for food, the breakfast was always busy, but the choice is overwhelming, there is continental as well as all types of cooked breakfast and different types of pastries, breads, cheeses, American breakfast to cater to everyone’s needs. You name it you have a thousand choice even drinks. Breakfast was served in Mogambo restaurant. It was very well laid out; the staff were always on hand to clear the tables and refill coffee and teas. They all worked very hard the kitchen staff, the waiters and waitresses must all be commended for their efficient and first-class service. There are ample choices during the day if you are hungry, this is a place where drinks and food are constantly on tap. There is Pepe’s Grill by the poolside if you require a snack and also Las Dunas serving everything from salads, pizza and cooked food. Lots of choices. The only thing I would say that is annoying was trying to book the restaurants in the evening, you need to book 3 days in advance by 12 midnight. I was fortunate to experience all 3 restaurants but felt sometimes when we went there some tables were empty which is a shame as if people can’t make it, others cannot book so the booking system needs to change so more people can have the chance to have dinner. We particularly liked Kulinarium restaurant as you have a set menu. Kazumi is an Asian style restaurant so that was pretty good. Toscana restaurant which is Italian cuisine was decent. The hotel is very beautiful and peaceful and the surroundings, staff are always cleaning, and the garden areas are always attended to, it is truly stunning. There is a shop in the hotel where you can buy clothing, toiletries and also pay a deposit to borrow an iron which I found a bit strange. You pay a deposit of 35 Euros to have an iron with no ironing board in the room. I think this needs to be changed as it is the first time that I have stayed in a hotel that you pay to use the iron; this shoul

Came back for another 2 week holiday in February. Did not disappoint. Hotel still spotless. Had a sea view room which was lovely but all rooms look out over either the sea or gardens. The staff were the usual friendly happy team we remembered. Everyone has a smile and hello. Entertainment was better than last year and different shows over the 2 weeks. Just perfect for stepping off the world and chilling Definitely no stress !

Back after they have totally redecorated. Lovely light rooms public areas much improved. All areas kept spotless by the cleaning and garden staff. All staff very friendly and helpful. Plenty of sun beds etc. even the toilets are made to be specially especially by the young lady.

Beautiful hotel with so much to offer. We have visited previous Riu hotels however this one has been the best for us (so far!). The food, although sometimes busy in the restaurant, is so varied and for someone like myself (a picky eater!), I found that I was able to eat plenty every night. The drinks were local drinks whoever we enjoyed these and definitely got our monies worth! The beach that is at the back of the hotel is absolutely beautiful, so many sun loungers available and lovely to sit on. Plenty of pools to pick from, never struggled to get a sun lounger. The animation team were absolutely fabulous, the nightly entertainment was great. Big shout out to Emmanuel, one of the dancers - he was absolutely fabulous, so friendly and funny, often joined us for a game of UNO before his show! He really made the evenings for us. The wind is really high for most parts of the day; however, this should be expected considering it’s a coastal hotel on a island that isn’t built up - unsure as to why other reviewers complain about this, plus it’s not something the hotel can rectify! Weather was fabulous for the most part. Would absolutely love to return to this hotel next year; the only issue I have is how much more money they wanted to be there over Chris**as week. We travelled 17-24th, I looked at a quote for the 21-28th however they wanted so much extra money for this. I understand it is Chris**as time, but it seems greedy to me as it isn’t the hotel workers that benefit from such a price increase. However; that being said, I am aware that this is not the hotel’s doing however more so is a bigger issue with TUI. Overall, we had an absolutely amazing holiday, completed some excursions, ate and drank until we could no more, and will definitely return!

My husband and I are just coming to the end of our second stay, we visited in December last year and decided to return for some winter sun. We’ve had a lovely week, the weather hasn’t been great this week but still warmer than at home. The hotel still looks great, we didn’t ask for a specific room number but asked for a high floor room in a quiet area and that’s exactly what we got. The room was cleaned to a high standard, we asked for some extra pillows and water via the app and they arrived straight away. We managed to book all three restaurants via the app, our favourite this year was the Asian. We got a taxi into town, had a couple of drinks in a couple of bars near the harbour. We then walked to the beach bar and then got a taxi back to the hotel as it was dark. We didn’t go on the water slides this year as the weather wasn’t that great but we did go In the sea a couple of times when it wasn’t red flag. Entertainment at night isn’t great in our opinion, I would recommend bringing some card games for the evening. Lots of lovely staff, toilets and food areas always kept clean. We will probably return one day but will try some where new next winter

Good flight, arriving at Boa Vista to a lovely sunny day. Passport control was very quick and efficient. Got on our bus to the hotel and it is literally 5 minutes away. Check in was smooth and we didn’t have to wait long. Paid the hotel tax on arrival for us both at 50 euros 50 cents in total. Once we got to our room, we were at the far end of the hotel, which is a good few minutes walk from the main reception. The room was very clean and beautifully decorated. Bottled hand soap and shower gel provided, requests for more can be made on the Riu app. We had great weather, sun loungers always available and really no need to reserve. Self serve soft drinks/beer/wine and water available around the resort 24hours. The main buffet has plenty to choose from; even being vegetarian and quite fussy I did not struggle with the options available. We booked all 3 speciality restaurants, it was nice to experience these but we much preferred the main buffet overall. The food was excellent, with a wide range of choices for breakfast and variety of meats, fish and other options in the evening. Plenty of choice at lunch too at the pool bar dining area. We didn’t find the speciality restaurants too difficult to book via the app. We did this as soon as we woke up in the morning and even managed to book one on our arrival at the hotel. The animation team around the pool, were fun, energetic and encouraging. We didn’t really see the evening entertainment so can’t really make much of a comment about this. We did, however go on a daily walk along the beach. Both ways are nice, however we quickly learned if you walked to the left past the beach traders, towards the dunes, the second and third bay area we stood and observed the turtles swimming amongst the rocks. If you are patient enough and wait they will appear, so this quickly became our daily routine, spending up to two hours one day watching them swim. There was one day the yellow flag was up, so we opted to have a little dip in the ocean, the current was still strong but we were really pleased to have had the opportunity. Personally would not enter whilst the red flag was displayed. We did see other animals around, the donkeys, cats, birds and also a baby hammerhead shark. We’ve been to Sal, a good few years back. We much prefer Boa Vista. We’ve done mostly Caribbean holidays, but both have said we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and felt the most relaxed in a long time. I was reluctant to visit due to the size of the hotel and honestly I didn’t get overwhelmed with the amount of people, the resort is huge and therefore people are spread amongst the 5 pools and the various bars. We are looking to return next year. Thank you for a great stay.

We recently got back from an amazing trip to RIU Karamboa. We stayed for 10 days which was a perfect length of time. The room was great, modern and cleaned each day. Our mini fridge was topped up every day. The food is great at this hotel - the main buffet choice is incredible, with something for everyone. During our visit we went to the Italian restaurant and the al LA carte restaurant. The Italian restaurant was okay, but did feel like the same food was offered in the main restaurant (and more choice). We really enjoyed the al la carte, and it was nice to have the set menu and restaurant experience. The pools were great and we found there were different areas for everyone - some more quiet than others. The staff in all areas of the hotel were amazing. They put in so much effort to day and evening entertainment - there is always something to do, and something for everyone. The beach is stunning, and there are always loungers available there too. The water slides were also fun! (Shared with neighboring hotel, but was never busy!) Overall an amazing experience and would definitely go back. Only one minor minor gripe - the iron cost. We expected there to be one in the room, however we had to pay for the use of the iron plus a deposit of €30, which seemed a little excessive

This is my 4th visit in a year and also my worst one. It was a lot busier than my previous visits. We like to relax around the pools and read but couldn't concentrate as there were so many people blasting out music/ sports commentary from blue tooth speakers at one time there were 3 competing with each other around our pool it was like going back to the 80s/ 90s when people used to bring their ghetto blasters to the beach/ pool. Without sounding snobby the standard of class of people had dropped from my previous visits, not sure if these have migraited from the (not so nice) Tourag Hotel now that the Karamboa has become an adults only hotel? Also it was like a cattle market in the restaurant at night and some peoples dress code was questionable. When we were at the airport to fly home we got talking to a couple who stayed next door at The Palace who said its alot better class of hotel than Karamboa so think the next visit will be there. The good points are the staff are all so hard working and the hotel is spotless.